Matt Ulery, M.M.

Chicago based bassist/composer and bandleader, Matt Ulery has produced and released 16 critically acclaimed albums of all original music under his name. In 2014, he performed with his quintet, Loom, on the NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series and was featured in Vanity Fair Magazine in a “rising jazz stars” feature article.  Known for his sweeping lyricism, unconventional phrase structures, expressionistic emotionalism, Ulery’s music, from small, diverse chamber ensembles to full orchestras, is informed by the entire spectrum of jazz, classical, rock, pop, and folk– specifically American, South American, Balkan, and other European folk styles. He has been performing for 30 years on upright, electric, and brass basses. Recent accolades include the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Esteemed Artist Award in 2021 and the highly prestigious Platform Award from the Walder Foundation in 2024.

    Ulery holds music degrees from Depaul and Roosevelt Universities and is in high demand as a bassist in Chicago. As a composer, besides him own groups, Ulery has collaborated with diverse ensembles such as multi-Grammy award winning Eighth Blackbird, Miami String Quartet, New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago, Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, Axiom Brass, Wild Belle, Guimaraes (Portugal) Jazz Festival, Projeto Arcomusical, and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition.

     When not touring parts of the U.S. and Europe, Ulery is extremely active in the Chicago area music scenes and has performed with his own groups at reputable venues such as Carnegie Hall, NYC Winter Jazz Festival, Chicago Orchestra Hall, Millennium Park Pritzker Pavillion, Chicago Cultural Center, NPR Tiny Desk, The Krannert Center, Jazz Showcase, The Metro, Chicago Jazz Festival, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Chicago World Music Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Guimaraes Jazz Festival, and countless other fine music listening rooms. In addition to performing, recording, and writing, Ulery is on faculty at Loyola University Chicago, Northeastern Illinois, and Roosevelt University in Chicago and gives masterclasses and clinics nationwide and beyond.

     Matt Ulery leads and composes all the music for several of his own ensembles, including but not limited to Sifting Stars Orchestra (orchestral art songs), Loom Large (jazz big band), Loom (jazz quintet), Delicate Charms (jazz quintet), Pollinator (jazz brass band), By a Little Light Ensemble (chamber jazz nonet), Mannerist (chamber undectet), and his high energy, punk/free jazz inspired band, Mother Harp.